When Darkness Falls
by Moenokori
Summary: What do you do when you find yourself wishing you were everything you weren’t? And where do you turn to find comfort when everything is falling down around you? [RikuSora] [AU] [elves, fearies]


When Darkness Falls

Chapter One

**Summary**: What do you do when you find yourself wishing you were everything you weren't? And where do you turn to find comfort when everything is falling down around you? Riku/Sora AU elves, fearies

**Disclaimer**: Don't own Kingdom Hearts. Shucks. Do own the plot and any original names/places/characters. :D

* * *

He couldn't sleep.

It was as simple as that, and yet, it wasn't at the same time. He was exhausted, true enough, but sleep eluded him still, like the faint memory of a dream that lingers when you wake. He could hear his guard's soft, breathy snores, could hear the faint rustle of the blankets as the man gave a twitch or rolled over. He could feel the silence that surrounded him, the calm quiet of the dark wafting around him in an effort to lure him into slumber.

Yet still, he could not sleep.

For tonight was a full moon, and full moons always brought on the memory.

It was very distinct and definite if he were to think enough; he could almost remember the feel of the grass beneath his bare feet, and the soft, fragrant smell of lilacs in bloom. He could remember the surreal blue tint the moon had cast upon on the earth, how it seemed as if the very essence of life hung thick in the air.

He had been young, a child, barely above his father's elbow. Curious still, he had allowed his feet to pull him toward the clearing in his woods where the waterfall roared; a place his older brothers took him to swim in their time off.

As an elven prince, stealing off into the night certainly wasn't the most intelligent of ideas. Certainly, seeing as how he could be kidnapped by the Dark Race, or simply done away with.

But something had been calling him that night, and in his childlike curiosity he'd gone.

What he'd found had sent his young heart racing.

It was a boy, no mistaking. His short, wild auburn hair had identified him as one of the Faerie Race, as had the luminous wings sprouting from his tiny back. His eyes seemed to glow with an unearthly grace, like there was knowledge burning inside; incomprehensible knowledge. And Riku, feeling as if his chest had been gripped by a vice, had felt his very breath still on his lips with a sharp intake of breath.

The boy had turned, alarmed, water sloshing about his small hips and rippling toward the beach.

"Who's there?" he squeaked.

Riku somehow found his voice.

"Just…just me." He replied, stepping from the forest into full view in the clearing. The boy had given him a slight once over, his wings twitching.

"Oh. Hello." The faerie boy said, a smile settling on his lips.

"Hi."

"You're an elf aren't you? Cid said I'd meet you tonight; probably why he didn't want me to go off on my own. He doesn't like elves, you know."

"Cid…?"

"My uncle."

"Oh."

Silence fell between them, both lost in thought, Riku more so than the other boy. His mind reeled with the thoughts of HOW someone whom he had never met had known he'd be coming. More yet, how this boy, young and fragile in appearance, could be allowed to wander on his own so late into the night.

"Aren't you afraid?" Riku had finally asked, sitting on the bank of the small lake, his legs stretched before him. The fearie boy had given him a strange look.

"Afraid of what?"

"Afraid that someone will come for you! Hurt you!"

"You'd never hurt me." The boy had assured, treading water toward the shore. Riku watched him move, dazed.

"How do you know?"

"Because…you are the one who will love me."

That one statement, delivered so calmly and so rationally, had sent his young heart into a frenzy of thumps. Unable to help the flush that had spread across his face, Riku had turned his head away, embarrassed.

The fearie boy had just laughed.

"Love like ours is not so uncommon! Don't men love where you're from?"

"Well…yes…"

"Then why are you ashamed? Don't you…like me?"

"Oh no! You're very pretty!"

"That's good then." The boy had replied, climbing from the water and settling beside the elf. Riku eyed him.

"Aren't you going to dress?" he asked faintly.

The boy shook his unruly head. "No."

"Why not?"

"Well…don't you want to go swimming with me?"

The water did look inviting. "I…do."

"Then come on! Let's go!"

Riku had hesitated for an instant, his heart leaping into his throat with the thought of being caught in such a compromising situation, but when the other boy cast a mischievous smirk over his shoulder Riku found himself standing and stripping before he could stop to think again. Once he was in the water the other had pounced him, and with a very uncouth like shriek Riku was submerged.

He came up spitting and coughing, the other boy's laughter ringing in his ears. With a grin Riku returned the favor, and soon the two were splashing and dunking without a care in the world.

Riku had never had so much fun in his life. As the youngest son to the current Elven King, and heir to the title, he was kept under such tight and constant supervision that sometimes, even at his young age, he felt suffocated. Perhaps that was why he took such an instant liking to the fearie boy: he was so wild, so free, everything as a child Riku yearned for but rarely received.

Dawn broke over the horizon much sooner than either would have liked, and as they climbed from the water, dripping and exhausted, Riku found that he didn't even know the other boy's name.

"Sora," he'd answered when the elf asked, "My name is Sora."

Sky.

Perfect.

"I like that." Riku murmured quietly, and Sora had rolled his eyes before shoving him unceremoniously back into the water. Again, Riku came up coughing and spitting, and Sora had the grace to look a little sorry.

After he was helped from the water, and after they had both dressed (Riku in his sleeping tunic and Sora in a pair of ragged leggings) they eyed one another, lost as to what to say. What does one say to another when they don't want to leave in the first place?

"Goodbye," seemed to suffice for Sora, and with a slow and deliberate pace he stepped close to Riku and placed a light kiss on his cheek. The other boy's hand flew to his face, which instantly colored, and the fearie boy laughed.

"We'll meet again," he promised before Riku could find his voice.

Calls of his name drifted to the elf prince's ears just as the wind picked up, and when Riku looked back over his shoulder Sora was gone, the only thing left in his wake the soft imprint of his feet on the grass.

That had been over sixty years ago. In truth, the memory should have faded or been lost, but it still resonated in Riku's head as clean and as clear as if it had been the night before. It brought him comfort when he felt lonely or confined, and simple peace when the pressures of his position got the better of him.

As he stole from his home, sleeping robe draped open about his shoulders, long black leggings covering his legs from hip to the top of his feet, he found himself wandering toward the clearing, as he often did on such nights, and hoping and praying that Sora would be there.

He wasn't, and Riku truly wasn't surprised. Who's to say their destinies where as intertwined as Sora said? Who's to say they were meant to be?

Who's to say…they'd ever meet again?

* * *

"You didn't sleep well."

"I didn't."

"Why not?"

"I just didn't."

"Damnit Riku, talk to me."

"Ah-ah, that's not how one addresses your future king."

"I'll address you properly when you stop being such a spoiled ass."

"My ass is not spoiled! It's sore actually, from all this RIDING."

Riku's guard barely cast him a look, and Riku knew that perhaps, just PERHAPS, he'd pushed his friend too far.

"Leon, you know I was kidding."

"Hn."

"You know I'd die from loneliness or sheer boredom if you weren't around."

A soft grunt.

"You know I'm s-…s-…"

"Hmmm?"

"Ah! Don't make me say it!"

"Hm. I think I will."

Riku cut his companion a scathing look. "Fine. I apologize. Are you happy now you ass?"

"Very."

"God I hate you."

"Such has been established."

"A LOT. I hate you A LOT."

"Again. Established."

"GAH! ARE WE THERE YET!"

Leon snickered. "King's don't whine, I believe is what your father is always saying."

Riku's look was positively murderous.

Leon merely shrugged it off, used to it by now. "If we continue at the pace we're going, we should be there by nightfall."

Not much was said after that. Riku ached to be rid of both the horse he was riding and the sniffles which had plagued him since he'd left his home. He, his guard and (reluctant) confidant, as well as a troop of twenty or so were headed east through the forests of Trindel. The kingdom hadn't received tithing from the small, dreary little village that occupied the space just outside of the forest, and despite Riku's protests the king had sent the company to demand proper compensation.

The prince had it under perfectly good authority that the village had naught to spare, and had argued himself blue trying to convince his father of such. But the king had insisted, and Riku had thrown his laughing brothers, Sephiroth and Ansem, austere looks as he strode from the thrown room, Leon in his wake.

While he contented himself with the fact that the only reason the two gave him as much trouble as he did was because he was the chosen prince to be king, he still disliked their amusement at another's expense. Before, when he was younger and much more unaware, the two had been his everything: he wanted to sleep with them, walk with them, learn with them, eat with them. They doted on him a bit, not because they had to, but because they appreciated his presence as their brother. He liked to think they loved him but…

He shook his head. His heart always ached when his head went in that direction. They were as they were and he was as he was, and there was little to be done to change it. He should be grateful with what he had.

As if sensing his mood, another elf rode up on Riku's left side, a reckless, unforgiving smile adorning his lips. Leon cast him an unpleasant look; he and Tidus rarely got along.

"Cheer up, your princely-ness. Your royal ass shall be pampered expertly tonight! You know those Trindeland guards – wonderful butt kissers, they are."

Riku grinned. Leon let out an exasperated sigh. "Thank you, Sir Tidus, for that report…now if you'd return to your spot in line…?"

"Oh you're so strict. I go were the prince tells me, Master Leon, not you I'm afraid."

"Shall I remind you why they call me heartless? For –"

"Ah…Leon, Sir Tidus, what would I tell father if I came home with your dead corpses dangling from the backs of our horses? Think of me, would you?"

"Oh prince! How DREADFUL of me!" cried Tidus as he threw himself at the other man, all mock sniffles and fake concern. Riku let him catch him about the waist and carry on for a bit before he'd had enough and shoved him unceremoniously away.

"Back in line if you please, Sir Tidus."

The elf gave a jaunty salute and rode back to his spot in line, his horse kicking up fresh grass as he went. Riku let out a chuckle as he shook his head. "He doesn't change."

"Unfortunately." Leon cut out with a sigh, rubbing at his temples.

Riku's laughter carried through the trees.

* * *

As they passed through the gates of Trindeland, Riku let out a grateful sound of relief. Without further ado he dismounted his horse and patted it lovingly on the nose, taking the reins in his armored fingers to lead it toward the stables. A young elf, barely in his sixties, had stumbled foreword with an awkward bow.

"Milord?" he said, and whisked the reins from Riku's hand. The horse disappeared after him. Riku shook his head. _Ass kissers indeed_, he thought.

"Your highness; it's a pleasure." That would be Lord Baralai who bowed before him, young for his position as head of the guard, but very capable. Riku motioned him up with an impatient wave his hand.

"I hate being bowed to, please just shake my hand."

The other man grinned. "Very well." Baralai extended an arm. Riku reached for it.

And just as their palms touched, a large, very heavy, very sharp sword swung down, breaking the two apart. The fair-haired man stumbled back, shocked, but Riku merely drew his sword and stood ready.

His opponent was short by all accounts, but their stance was strong and sure, and when they'd charged foreword Riku knew better than to try and parry the attack; he rolled out of the way.

"My lord!" a few of the troops gasped, rushing forward to aid him, but Tidus and Leon waved them back.

"Eh, he's fine." Tidus assured, digging through the bag hanging from his belt and pulling out a red shiny apple. He bit into it was a crunch.

"But-!"

"Trust me," the elf said around a mouthful of fruit, "They're always like this."

* * *

"Good to see you haven't changed." Riku grunted, blocking a downward attack with his sword and swinging out with his right foot. The attacker jumped up, tucking their feet tight against their bottom, and shoved down hard on Riku's sword, pushing him back.

Riku stumbled for an instant and took a moment to get his footing back, giving the attacker enough time to settle on the floor. They charged again, this time coming at him stronger than before, but Riku was ready. He ducked under the sword, surged up against their chest and shoved with all his might. The attacker went flying and landed roughly in a pile of logs some three yards away.

The troops broke out into cheers for the prince. Riku grinned at them as he strode foreword and offered his attacker an arm up. They took it.

When they were righted on their feet, the attacker's metal helmet, which had been worn the whole time, was pulled from their head and settled against their hip.

"I still can't beat you," they murmured in disappointment. Silence had fallen.

"Ah…you ARE getting better though."

"You think?"

"Yes. I'm very impressed. You almost took my hand off."

A blinding smile. "I'll get you next time."

"I look foreword to it," Riku whispered, taking the attacker's free hand and kissing it. "Lady Kairi."

The girl turned away with a blush, snatching her hand away. "Your highness flatters me."

"I enjoy it." The prince said, taking her by the elbow and leading her past the gapping men, minus Tidus and Leon.

"Who…!" one man demanded limply, turning toward his two casual commanders.

Leon replied lightly, "That would be Lady Kairi of Bastion. She is Prince Riku's betrothed."

* * *

"What am I going to do with you?" Riku asked lightly, tucking a stray stand of hair behind Kairi's ear. They were meandering on the other side of the stables, well out the sight of the other men. Kairi leaned her head on Riku's shoulder.

"Teach me more."

"Surely your father wants my blood for teaching you as much as I did!"

"He…doesn't know…not exactly."

"Lady, tell me my ears deceive me. Your father MUST know! Where do you practice?"

"In the woods, well away from him."

"The **WOODS**! Kairi of Bastion, you foolish girl, the woods of Trindel are full of all manor of things that would chop your slight self up and spread it on toast."

"A delightful description." The girl said mildly, hiding her disgust.

Riku took her by the forearms. "I'm serious Kairi, the woods are dangerous for you."

"I know that." The girl said, jerking free of the prince's grasp, "But I hate being weak. I hate that my friends, my family, that YOU ride off to war and leave me behind! What if something where to happen? How am I to be your queen-"

"Oh stop now. You're perfectly capable of being my queen as you are now and you know it."

"As all you need is a son."

Riku winced. "I didn't mean it like that."

"I know…it's just…Riku, you've got to tell them sooner or later."

"Tell them what?"

"That you don't fancy me."

"What does that have to do with it? And where did you get such I farfetched idea? I like you very much."

"Yes. LIKE. As a friend."

Riku was quiet for a time. "I'd be good to you." He promised softly.

"I know you would, I know you would Riku. But don't you see? I…I _CAN'T_…not…I couldn't lie, not my whole life."

"You could take lovers; I wouldn't say a thing."

"And have them accuse your son of being a bastard? I wouldn't allow it! Riku…you know you're my friend, that I'd do almost anything for you, but this is something I couldn't bring myself to do. I'd need more, don't you see?"

"I know."

A had rested on his cheek and Riku looked down into Kairi's warm blue eyes_. I could make myself love her,_ he thought. _She's pretty, and kind, and…_

"You're not happy, Riku. Anyone can see it. As your friend, I worry. As your wife-to-be, I worry. As a citizen in your country, I worry. What would make you happy?"

"I…"

"What can I do to help?"

Riku hung his head and looked away from her. He wanted…

He wanted Sora.

* * *

Well! I wasn't quite sure where I wanted to end this, and then decided here was a perfectly acceptable spot. :D Or somesuch. Please excuse an OOC-ness, as it's being worked on. Please excuse any confusion, as it will be explained later on.

And please review if you've the time!

Moenokori/Ember

h t t p / w w w . y a o i n e s s . c o m /


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